For Pico Reefers....Supersize your AC20

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Master Er

New Member
I am running out of mods and this was done out of boredom and so the other day I was inquiring about adding a sump or fuge that would increase the water volume of my 2.5MB. I didnt know how a sump actually works since I really havent seen one in action, only pictures. After 2 days of visualizing in my head, I did this yesterday and this is what came out.

Supersized AC20....500% its original size...


Rear view with Fuge Light attached...


Inside shot of Fuge showing strainer...


Stream-lined to fit behind my 2.5MB without taking too much space and the cover was hacked up to make a one piece smooth topped lid...


The water flow is still functional, just as how an Aquaclear HOB would work, water goes in...down....up....through the strainer (sponge if inserted)...and out to the tank. I can now place a heater inside with 2lbs. of live rock rubble and macro algae. Water volume increase without any contents is 3/4 of a gallon. My only mistake is the measurement, there should have been no legs. Nobody is perfect.

Now what? Any suggestions or ideas that I could do next? I would really appreciate it.
 
M

Master Er

New Member
By the way, the sponge compartment doesnt get filled with water....not until the the water fills up the compartment before it.
 
M

Master Er

New Member
10 watt 50/50 coralife bulb....placed inside a clear plastic container from the container store...painted of course.
 
S

SeanB

New Member
You got skillz! Do you think the fuge portion will get enough flow or might it get stagnant?
 
M

Master Er

New Member
100% positive about the flow.....I test thoroughly before I do any posts. Before I painted the unit, I tested it with water then poured soy sauce inside to get a clear visual on the flow. The AC20 is sealed except the for the portion where water goes in and flows downward....I used a baffle inside (like the Nanocube...1st chamber) that keeps the water flow downward...from there it flows up....finally through the strainer then out to the tank....never stagnant.
 
M

Master Er

New Member
Yup...I will. I will also add aprotein skimmer to it...what do you think? I'll be using this for my pico tank. I dont know if a skimmer would be good for a 2.5gal tank. And I dont know the minimum dimension of an air driven P. skimmer...that is functional. Honestly, I've never used a P. skimmer. Any info on this would be great.
 
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incysor

New Member
LOL...his mods are so clean that they look like they came out of the factory that way...Sometimes it makes it difficult to tell what's going on.

I can't tell from the pics either. Did you re-route the intake so that it flows to the larger sump section then back to the overflow back into the tank?

B
 
M

Master Er

New Member
Come on guys...i'm abashed by your comments...but thanks. Sorry for not taking pictures during the assembly process...its just that when I do things I get too focused to think about my camera. Incysor...right on the spot, thats what I did.

You guys know how a basic aquaclear HOB works right? From the intake tube it goes down to the bottom then upwards through the strainer then out...right? Okay, so basically I'm still using the same flow pattern but in a larger scale. What I did was I sealed the compartment that holds the foam filters and made an opening beneath that. Hence, if I poured water into the intake compartment, water will just flow out and not enter the filter compartment. From which I cut out 2 big 8"x10" acrylic sheets to act as a wall and 3 smaller sheets to serve as the sides. Heres a crappy diagram to illustrate clearly....my fault for not taking pictures of the staging process.

Flow


Reason why I was asking about a P.skimmer...I was thinking of modding the modded AC20 by attaching an air driven P. skimmer by incorporating it to the design....next upgrade...put a small reservoir behind it next to the fuge light to act as a water top-off container using a pump instead of the nurce system. Wouldnt that be cool....Supersized AC20 Filter, heater, fuge, protein skimmer, surface skimmer, and water top-off all in one unit....Ultimate Pico!!! A Pico on steroids. Now thats a real "BaK-Pak".

Heres a picture of the collection cup for the protein skimmer that I made and how it would be incorporated to the supersized AC20. But it can only be air driven....I still want to maintain a fuge...fuge can hold up to 4lbs live rock. With the P. skimmer attached, it'll probably hold 3lbs. Dimensions would be approximately....2"w x 2-3/4"d x 13"h (total height). Cup is about 3"...and from the water surface to the base of the cup is 1-3/4".


Again thanks guys....it a pleasure to do this....ONLY NanoTank will see my work...and nowhere else.
 
M

Master Er

New Member
Extra area? You mean the "red" lines?.....yellow is a representation of the water, black is for the sketch of the AC20, red is for the sketch of the extra area i added...I used acrylic if thats what you mean.
 
M

Master Er

New Member
An airstone in one chamber which will shoot up bubles and force water up and over the baffle which is about an inch below the surface wherein the water will be forced down the other chamber.

By the way, can old water be used for testing? Is there anything to skim in old water? I have about 3 gallons of used water which I just keep....I dont know why though...I just keep it.
 
M

Master Er

New Member
Ooops! I thought I posted the picture. Here it is....


In the last picture I showed the skimmer cup I fabricated....this is the baffle that is underneath it. The main unit will complete the body of the skimmer. The center divider is about an inch bellow the surface. The cup sits 1-1/4" above the surface. I dont know if that would be adequate enough. Any opinions on this? I really havennt tinkered with a skimmer so I really have no idea.
 
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drty811

New Member
im pretty sure the bottom of the cup should be at water level.....i guess trial and error will be your best bet...
 
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